MACKAY, Mariota Athyn

1350 - 1395  (45 years)  Submit Photo / Document

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• Name	MACKAY, Mariota Athyn
  Birth	1350	Argyll, Scotland
  Gender	Female
  Death	28 Feb 1395	Scotland
  Burial	Mar 1395
  WAC	16 Nov 1944	SLAKE
  _TAG	Reviewed on FS
  _TAG	Temple
  Headstones	Submit Headstone Photo
  Person ID	I50045	Joseph Smith Sr and Lucy Mack Smith
  Last Modified	19 Aug 2021

  
  

  Family	STEWART, Earl Alexander ,   b. 1343, Dundonald Castle, Kyle, Ayrshire, Scotland Dundonald Castle, Kyle, Ayrshire, Scotlandd. 1 Aug 1405, Badenoch, Inverness-shire, Scotland (Age 62 years)
  Children	+ 1. STEWART, Countess Margaret ,   b. Abt 1373, Dundonald, Ayrshire, Scotland Dundonald, Ayrshire, Scotlandd. 18 May 1451, Scotland (Age 78 years)
  Family ID	F23177	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	24 Jan 2022

  
  

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  Biography This lady is recognisable in history as being the "handfast" wife of Sir Alexander Stewart, Lord of Badenoch and also known as "The Wolf of Badenoch". A son to Robert Stewart, later King Robert II, and one of the Albany Stewarts. He was notorious in Scotland's history for leading a band of "caterans" (although in Gaelic this is a highly respected term depicting brave warriors, amongst the Scottish nobility at the time it was generally meant to describe bandits). She appears on the record of the Episcopal See of Moray, her diocese,[1] during the divorce proceedings of her husband to Euphemia Ross as Mariotamque filiam Athyn, which can be refined to Mariota filia Athyn, Balfour Paul simply suggests Mariota. In English this suggests; Margaret, daughter of Athyn. In Balfour Paul,[2] who had no time for handfast wives, he suggests that "He deserted his wife (Euphemia of Ross) for a woman named Mariota, who may have been the mother of his illegitimate children." Clearly if he had made any attempt to calculate the dates of birth of his children or checked the Register of the Episcopal See of Moray he would have noticed that he was "cohabiting" with this "woman" both prior to and after the marriage with Euphemia of Ross. Although her name has not been noticed, in original source material, in Gaelic she appears on a number of web sites, wikipedia included, as Mairead nighean (or nic) Eachann - Margaret, daughter of Hector. Her Lineage The conjecture regarding this lady is not in who she was but who her parents were. It might be presumed that her name would tell the story but unfortunately the names recorded, on most web sites, are different and there has been little attempt made to rationalise them. While Margaret is common to both the Latin and Gaelic the name of her father is different. The Latin is a bit easier to work with; Athyn is a Latin diminutive of the Gaelic Aodh, suggesting she was the daughter of Aodh, noticed on wiktree as Iye Mackay. He was actually likely the first of the family of Mackay (Gaelic: MacAoidh) in Strathnaver, Sutherland. However the Gaelic is a mess; the only Hector contemporary with the events would have been of the MacLeans. Possibly Hector Maclean, 1st Laird of Lochbuie, who had married Mary MacDonald. This seems unlikely though as the families of MacLean and the Albany Stewarts fought much of the period in question. Given the persistent use of the Mackay by Alexander Stewart in his terror campaign of the north it could be presumed she was from the family of Mackay but could not have been Eachann. But it could have been Eadann. Eadann, or Aidan, is a diminutive of Aodh and it might be presumed that a clerical error was made in transposing a "d" into a "ch" or that modern historians have carelessly changed the letter from script. The Mackay and the Albany Stewarts maintained a strong family relationship until 1411 (Battle of Dingwall) and beyond and it seems highly probable that she was the daughter to Aodh; if she was the daughter to one of his sons she would have been known as Mairead nighean mhic Eadann. It is this lineage that has been used on wikitree. If there is material evidence, in source documents, that might change this supposition please discuss with the Profile Manager. Family It is likely she married (handfasted) young. Her children start, at the latest, to be born, Alexander being the first born about 1370. It can thus be presumed she married near that time and was born about 1350. She is regarded as the mother to his children, all illegitimate in the eyes of the church: Sir Alexander Stewart, likely born ab